About a month ago I wrote a paper for my pop culture class about why Red Sox Nation is so unique. It only needed to be a 5 page paper, mine pushed seven pages and I had already cut a lot out. And this was all written without doing research, I had to go back through the paper and find places to do research and find sources. Being an avid Sox fan makes writing baseball and Red Sox papers or speeches (another frequent assignment of mine during freshman year) very easy simply because I'm passionate. I figured I would turn the paper into a two to four part blog series and cover the different aspects and parts of Red Sox Nation. First I want to take a look at the emotional appeal of the team and what makes us all so passionate about the Red Sox. This excerpt really plays to the fan in me more than any other part of the paper.
I used several different sources throughout the essay, and if you have any concerns as to what I am quoting I have a full bibliography and footnotes (this was a research paper after all). So here goes Part 1....
"During the early years of the team a group of fans established themselves as the “Royal Rooters.” This was a group of men who would parade through the streets of Boston playing songs and music as they left bars and headed to all the Red Sox home games.[i] This group was established in 1903 and became one of the original groups of die-hard sports fans in American sports. This became the very foundation of Red Sox Nation. Traditions from the early 20th century fans continue to be a part of Red Sox Nation. This can be seen in looking at the song “Tessie,” originally played by the Royal Rooters, and more recently recorded by The Dropkick Murphys and still associated with the Red Sox today.[ii] Traditions like this are what have helped to keep the fan base connected.
The Red Sox have embraced their historical roots in more recent years, now that they have won a couple World Series. There is less shame and certainly more pride in the fact that these fans have stayed with the team and followed them through all their ups and downs. Other teams such as the Yankees have attracted masses of fans through their success, while Red Sox Nation has proven their fan-hood by watching the team even during losing seasons. Red Sox fans tend to feel more personally invested in their roles because they never gave up during the difficult years and always “kept the faith,” as the 2004 phrase went.[iii]
Another factor in the emotional attachment and involvement of the fans is the generational appeal. Trish Saintelus, moderator of an online Red Sox chat room, spoke of his childhood saying, “I have great memories of sitting with my grandfather [who was] 80 years old, listening to the Red Sox on a hot summer night.”[iv] He also went on to point out that he did not have these same memories and connections with any other sports team. This is just one of thousands of small anecdotes that demonstrate the connection fans feel with older and younger generations based on traditions surrounding the Red Sox, not necessarily other teams.
The Red Sox have existed since the beginning of the 20th century and played at Fenway Park for 99 years.[v] This means that several generations within one family have all been to the same ballpark to watch the same team play. No other fan base can claim this same thing; only Cubs fans can come close to saying the same for Wrigley Field, which was built in 1914.[vi] Another stadium which saw many historical moments in baseball was Yankee Stadium built in 1923 and was known as “the house that Ruth built” until the team opened a new stadium in 2009.[vii] Many fans felt that this left Fenway Park as the soul archives for baseball history. Fenway has also maintained the longest sell-out streak in baseball, filling the ballpark for every game since May 2003.[viii] This demonstrates the clear understanding that fans have of the history and great moments that have taken place at Fenway Park."[i] "The History of the Royal Rooters." Royal Rooters Baseball League. Home Teams Online. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.
[ii] “The History of the Royal Rooters.” Hometeamonline.com
[iii] Borer, Michael Ian. "Believe in the Nation: Red Sox Nation and the Cultural Power of Place." Faithful to Fenway. New York: New York UP, 2008. 180. Print.
[iv] Beach, Fighting Words. 3.
[v] Borer, Faithful to Fenway. 179-84.
[vi] "Wrigley Field History." The Official Site of The Chicago Cubs. Chicago Cubs. Web. 19 Apr. 2011.
[vii] "Yankee Stadium History | Yankees.com: Ballpark." The Official Site of Major League Baseball | MLB.com: Homepage. Web. 17 Apr. 2011.
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